Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Second Annual staypuffed Awards! I had a lot of fun putting these together last year, so I thought I'd expand on it more in 2014. All of these are based on my opinion, so I'd love for you guys to share your thoughts. Now, before we officially get started, I’d like to list some honourable mentions of movies and comics I really enjoyed that either didn’t fit my categories or simply didn’t make the cut.
Honourable mentions.
The Lego Movie
I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun in a cinema. Consistently charming, imaginative and hilarious, it’s a laugh-a-minute crowd-pleaser with amazing animation.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Russo brothers brought the Super Soldier right into the modern world, marking the most engaging and visceral entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet.
Death of Wolverine
Easily dismissed as the most gimmicky comic book gimmick (character death, holo foil covers), Charles Soule and Steve McNiven actually crafted a sombre yet satisfying send-off for the world’s most famous mutant.
Okay! Let's do this. Up first, the comics...
The Gimmick That Was Actually Good / Thor
Comic publishers have been pulling gimmicks for years, and 2014 was no different: Iron Man went ‘superior’, Wolverine bit the dust, and DC took over September with 3D Futures End covers. But the one that stood heads and shoulders above the rest was Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman's new take on the God(dess) of Thunder. Though the concept’s still in its early days, our female Thor has made quite an impression, going from one of the year’s biggest shocks to one of the year’s best stories.
Best Comic Event / Spider-Verse
Much to the relief of many Web-Heads, Dan Slott's ambitious attempt to bring every Spider-Man and Woman together has been a big success so far. Launching the series with a bunch of tie-in stories, it sees Peter Parker join forces with Miguel O'Hara, Otto Octavius, Peter Porker (the spectacular Spider-Ham) and many, many more. Mixing up the doom and gloom with fun, snappy interactions between Spider-People and awe-inspiring action, it’s a great idea executed wonderfully. Plus, the introduction of Spider-Gwen alone most definitely earns Spider-Verse's place here.
Comic of the Year / Batman
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo go back-to-back, claiming the title for the second year in a row. Dedicating the first half of 2014 to completing their rock’n’roll origin Zero Year, kicking off the explosive Endgame in recent months and sprinkling in a couple of single-issue stories here and there, these are the finest days the Dark Knight has seen in comic book pages for a long time. Stunning, and sometimes visceral, art, combined with expert storytelling, symbolism, foreshadowing and easter eggs galore, it’s hard for a superhero book to top this.
A quick TV interlude...
Best Superhero TV Show / Arrow
Coming out on top against a number of comic-to-TV debuts, the CW’s increasingly impressive take on a certain playboy billionaire/brooding vigilante (you know, the other one) really hit the mark this year. While it’s still not quite the sharpest show on the air, there’s a lot to like about Arrow; the growing cast of characters coming to aid (or destroy) Oliver Queen’s quest adds a entertaining richness, with Arsenal, Black Canary, Wildcat, the Flash, Deathstroke, the Suicide Squad and more making great appearances in Seasons 2 and 3.
And now, onto the movies.
Best Movie Moments
Here are some of my favourite moments in 2014 blockbusters. Warning, spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 follow.
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Interstellar / Countdown
Early on in the film, Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper is forced to leave his son and daughter behind in order to save the human race. As he drives away from his home, Christopher Nolan starts a countdown from 10, with the music swelling and the emotions becoming more and more intense. But once the countdown hits 1, Nolan cuts to the Endurance furiously firing up its engines and launching into space, capturing Coop’s early struggle in one swift edit. Genius filmmaking.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 / The Death of Gwen Stacy
While the quality of the runtime that precedes it is debatable, I believe the death of Gwen Stacy was extremely well-handled. After an intense scuffle with a deformed Harry Osborn, Spidey’s webbing breaks and sends Gwen falling down the clocktower, and much like in the original storyline, Spider-Man’s webbing cannot save her. The look on her face, and the awful sound effect on impact, only add to the heartbreaking finale.
Guardians of the Galaxy / Howard the Duck
C’mon, it’s Howard the freaking Duck. I, along with everyone else in the cinema, lost my mind when the well-attired Master of Quack-Fu appeared in the Guardians post-credits scene. There’s no spin-off on the way, but I honestly wouldn’t mind if there was.
Godzilla / Force of Nature
Though the titular King of Monsters is used sparingly throughout Gareth Edwards’ sombre reboot, he still gets time to shine. Two moments stick out to me as being particularly exceptional: the slow tilt up Godzilla to see him in his full, burning glory for the first time; and the brief glow of blue coming from his tail turning into a devastating spray of his iconic atomic breath at the film’s climax.
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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 / The Hanging Tree
The third instalment of the Hunger Games franchise opts to slow down before the big finale next year, but the strongest moment in a film surrounded by terrible oppression and political tension is Jennifer Lawrence’s electrifying rendition of a song named ‘The Hanging Tree’. Beginning a cappella then exploding into an orchestral theme of revolution, it’s a scene that hangs in the mind long after it’s done.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier / Hail Hydra
It’s fair to say that it came as a shock to most, if not all, of us when the villainous organisation made a reappearance in Joe and Anthony Russo’s political superhero thriller. The bombshell, dropped by the conscience of Arnim Zola in a computer, revealed that Hydra had been bubbling beneath the surface of the MCU for decades, blowing the landscape wide-open for a massive shake-up.
X-Men: Days of Future Past / Welcome Back
Once the X-Men of the 1970’s successfully prevent a dystopian future from occurring, Logan wakes up in his own time. But gone are the desolate landscapes and armies of ruthless Sentinels; instead, he’s back in the X-Mansion, reunited with the X-Men of the original trilogy including Rogue, Cyclops and, of course, Jean Grey. Not only did the film serve as a total retcon of every unpopular thing in the franchise, it also had this wonderful moment where glimpsed all the mutants, together once again.
Here we are — the final categories...
Best Trailer / Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The record-breaking debut of footage from J.J. Abrams’ massively anticipated new Star Wars film reignited confidence in the franchise and sent the internet into a lightsaber-fueler flurry. Despite not featuring any familiar faces, it wonderfully captured the tone and excitement of the original trilogy, even with its brisk 88-second runtime. Though there have been some great trailers released throughout the year, no other exploded quite like The Force Awakens.
Films of the Year / X-Men: Days of Future Past
It was a strong year for superhero films, with shield-wielding super soldiers, web-slinging wall crawlers and a crazy gun-toting raccoon, but the mind-bending combination of new and old in Bryan Singer's extraordinary X-Men inbetweenquel stands as my favourite comic book blockbuster of 2014. Seeing the First Class crew, with added Wolverine, attempt to prevent a dystopian Sentinel-ruled future (home to the mutants of the original trilogy) was gloriously exciting, and has easily paved the way for future instalments.
Films of the Year / Gone Girl
It's not a CBM, no, but I simply have to include it. David Fincher’s fascinating, gripping and unbelievably tense adaption of Gillian Flynn's chart-topping novel thankfully delivered in spades, becoming the foundation for discussion amongst many of the year’s movie-goers. Headlined by riveting, brave and multi-layered performances from Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike and all of the supporting players, and boosted by stunning cinematography, tight editing and a suspenseful score, the complex narrative tackles a whole range of themes too spoilery to talk about here. But I’ll leave it at this: nothing is as it seems.
Films of the Year / Interstellar
From the moment it was first announced, it was clear that Christopher Nolan’s ninth feature film had very high ambitions. An interplanetary exploration movie founded on complicated, but proven, scientific theories on time, space, and wormholes? How is he going to pull this off? By launching us into an incredible cinematic experience fuelled by strong acting, massive themes and incredible visual imagery. After being shrouded in secrecy for so long, it was a disappointment to some viewers — but in 2014, I didn’t see a finer film than Interstellar.
And that wraps up the staypuffed Awards for 2014! Feel free to discuss my picks and share your selections below. If you enjoyed reading, it would be super cool if you hit that big red thumb.
It was a good year, huh? ;)